May 2026 in movies (Post #2 of ???)

Have I mentioned that I like Project Hail Mary (the movie)? I'm a big fan. I'm also a big fan of the Boston Museum of Science, so what better way to combine these two loves than to watch Project Hail Mary in the domed IMAX theater at the museum? Tickets kept selling out, so when I was finally able to get my hands on them, I sent the link to almost everybody I knew as a public service. 

I think three times is enough Project Hail Mary for now, but I'll buy the Blu-ray too. P h y s i c a l  m e d i a. I don't even own the book yet, but I'm sure I'll find a nice copy someday. 

I love this museum a lot, but I had never seen a real movie in the Omni Theater before. It was so so cool. I'm not sure if I would recommend it for your first time watching any particular movie, but the space scenes in particular were AMAZE. I brought my buddy who was seeing PHM for the first time, and she loved it too, so it was an extra good evening :) ended with some good Nepali food. 

Project Hail Mary (2026) - directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller

 

Rewatched in the Museum of Science Omni Theater. Happy to be in my favorite place with some favorite people watching a favorite movie. 

There’s nothing quite like Eva Stratt telling you to “just stop your crying” while you’re tearing up. 

I’ve said everything I need to say about this movie already. IMAX dome was very immersive. Made me kinda sleepy, though. Good.

Amelia overheard somebody say this was their 6th time watching, so really I’m a chill casual fan.

Watched: May 9, 2026

Rating: ★★★★★ / 5 

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Four movies to go. Please be patient with me. 

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In other news, Tor did send Isabel J. Kim on tour, and I did attend. The event was at Harvard Book Store earlier today, moderated by R.F. Kuang. The book she released is called Sublimation, which I rambled about a bit here. I'm genuinely pretty hyped to read it after the discussion today. People came up with some great questions during the Q&A, and that's a talent I'm jealous of. 

(Part of) May 2026 in movies (Post #1 out of ???)

  

After babbling so much about the Hugo Awards last time, my mental state this month has really taken me off track. I've barely been reading enough to keep up with book clubs, but I have been watching an above average number of movies! I waited to post because I thought I could do a May movie wrap-up all at once (7 movies total❗), but I have so many regrets and too many movies to tell you a little bit about. 

 

Beginning to write this post with Michael Jackson stuck in my head. Take a wild guess as to why that might be (hint: just watched my first movie of June).  

 

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I'm not sure what possessed me to watch The Devil Wears Prada finally. Some combination of: I've always intended to watch more Anne Hathaway movies, I thought it was a rom-com (it's not), the sequel came out recently (will I even watch?), and Ryland Grace speaking very highly of Meryl (PHM reference).  

I thought it was fun but not super memorable, especially for a movie that's kind of become a classic at this point. 

 

The Devil Wears Prada (2006) - directed by David Frankel

 

Movie about Anne Hathaway developing the work ethic and shitty work-life balance that my parents wish I had. All it took was one makeover for her to be good at her job! 

 

Blond journalist guy gave me the creeps the whole time. Leave her alone sir. 

 

Meryl Streep can do anything 😌

 

Watched: May 1, 2026

Rating: ★★★½ / 5 

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Emma (1996) - directed by Douglas McGrath

 

Admittedly it’s hard to critique a movie and hard to fully enjoy it when I spend the whole 2 hours yapping (and fighting a war for MY spot on the couch). Tbf every time 26-year-old Mr. Elton calls himself an old man, I am obligated to either take offense or commiserate. 

 

The comedy is good, very vibrant characters (thank u Jane Austen). I think the romance is the weakest part honestly; it just feels like an afterthought.

 

Why doesn’t the movie want me to know Mr. Knightly’s first name 😭 it’s George btw.

 

Watched: May 8, 2026

Rating: ★★★½ / 5 

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I can't call myself a Jane Austen expert yet; have only read one book so far, but I have seen a bunch of (modern day) adaptations. I was familiar with Emma up until a point: she's a matchmaker and the romance is kind of almost incestuous, but the details of the story were a big blur. Um, it's still a blur. The movie features Jane Austen's signature large cast of characters, and I had only a tepid grasp of who all of them were. Would have been even less of a grasp if not for Diane (MVP). Evidently, I watched this one with a big group of people and only half paid attention, but goddammit my opinion still deserves to be known. 

 

I thought Gwyneth Paltrow was pretty good in this along with the rest of the cast. I comment on the romance being the weakest link, but I think that might be a feature of Emma specifically and not a flaw of the movie. The story feels much more focused on Emma growing up and becoming a good person than any romance with Mr. Knightly. 

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More reviews to come eventually maybe perhaps one day. Bye for now. 

It's Hugo Time (reviews of literature and California)

Been a bit of a hiatus since my last post due to travel and life generally feeling like it won't stop moving. I'm still busy, and I've accumulated enough stuff to write about that I don't think I can fit it all in one post. I've watched some movies and read some things and even finally finished episode 2 of BBC Pride and Prejudice.

 

I anticipated one problem that might come with a blog is hesitating to write reviews immediately after finishing things. If I sit on a review for several weeks, how well do I even remember what it is I'm writing about? The writing itself also just takes time. I write a post and reread and reread, or I add things to this page just for fun (look at my new like button!), and all of a sudden 6 PM has become 12:30 AM and I've gone past my unofficial bedtime. 

 

Did you know that Pratima's Articles has 25 all-time views from Singapore (in 18 years)? I must've had a fan there. I also have more views from Finland (6) than India (5). Veryy interesting. I'm prone to getting lost in the sauce of statistics, but the vast majority of the blog views come from yours truly. 

 

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Because I soft-launched the Hugo Awards already, I think I'll start with that. The Hugo Award is an annual award for science fiction and fantasy (SFF) media, mostly for literature (novels, novellas, novelettes, short stories), but they also recognize other content as well. 

 

The Hugos are the maybe most well-known literary award for SFF (the other big one is the Nebula), but they're actually entirely fan-voted. No jury of experts or nothing. There's a yearly sci-fi convention called Worldcon, and the attendees of that event nominate and vote and decide which books on shelves get a little "Hugo Award Winner!" sticker. That's a lot of power given to a small group of ~1500 fans. 

 

I discovered a few years ago that you don't even need to actually attend Worldcon to vote. You can purchase a World Science Fiction Society (WSFS) membership for $50 just to vote, though attending the actual convention is more expensive. After the award nominees get announced, the membership gives you access to a voter "packet" which contains a lot (but not all) of the nominated works (lots of ebooks, some other media, and even some Steam codes for video games). More details on the 2026 Hugo Awards here. 

 

ANYWAY, in 2025 I purchased a membership and read a bunch of short stories and novelettes and poems and comic books and a few novellas. And then I voted. My (expert) opinion was taken into account. It was a fun experiment. I decided to do it again this year. 

 

In 2026, I even nominated some things. I nominated Percy Jackson season 2 for Best Dramatic Presentation (Long Form), but it did not make the top 6 finalists—criminal. 

 

This year, I wanted to aim to read all the nominated short stories and novelettes and poems and most of the novellas. I've fallen behind already, but it's okay, it's just for fun it's just for fun it's just for fun.  

 

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Since my last review post, I've read one novella and two short stories, all of which were 2025 releases nominated for 2026 Hugo Awards. 

 

Murder by Memory by Olivia Waite (novella) 

Fun attempt at a murder mystery in a world where murder isn’t really permanent. Lots of details felt a bit too convenient, but it’s nice and short so no big complaints.

Some weird banking/financial talk that seemed unnecessarily convoluted. I would’ve liked to understand it in theory, but I have a feeling it wouldn’t make sense to an accountant either. 

 

Read: April 30, 2026

Rating: ★★★ / 5 

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This was a pretty simple murder mystery on a spaceship, and as a murder mystery, I don't actually think it was that strong. The sci-fi technology focusing on memories was interesting enough, but I don't consider it "award worthy," I guess. At least I finished it. 

 

I have since started three other nominated novellas: Cinder House, The River Has Roots, and The Summer War. All three of them read like fairy tales, but maybe any fantasy audiobook narrated by a Brit automatically sounds like a fairy tale to me. I don't think I'm much of a fairy tale person; I must lack whimsy. I'd guess that at least two out of these three books are destined to stay unfinished. 

 

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In My Country by Thomas Ha (short story)

Publisher: Clarkesworld Magazine 

 

Story about stories and censorship. It's meta in the sense that I'm not really sure what the message is. Definitely well written; Thomas Ha has a good style. Eerie dystopian vibe. 

 

Read: May 2, 2026

Rating: ★★★★ / 5

 

I read a novelette by Thomas Ha for the Hugos last year as well: The Brotherhood of Montague St. Video. Also dystopian, but a bit less abstract, I'd say. Between the two, Brotherhood is still my favorite; I liked that one a lot. 

 

From what I've heard, Ha often leans into the horror genre, and I see pieces of that in In My Country. 

 

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Six People to Revise You by J.R. Dawson (short story)

Publisher: Uncanny Magazine

 

Nice story that hits emotionally, but the premise and world-building is all just a vehicle for a pretty basic story about self-acceptance. It's not really what I'm looking for in speculative short fiction as the speculative aspect just feels like window dressing.

 

Read: May 3, 2026

Rating: ★★★ / 5

 

The Uncanny Magazine Podcast episode featuring this story also includes an interview with J.R. Dawson. Six People captures feelings that are relatable to anybody, but it's specifically a story about being queer and accepting parts of yourself that other people may not see positively. I enjoyed hearing her talk about it. 

 

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Lastly, I will review the month of May so far. 

 

I think the last few weeks have been good. I got recruited to teach juggling at a mini Renaissance Faire. I dressed up for May the 4th. I went to a concert at the Sinclair in Cambridge. I influenced two people to get library cards within the span of a couple weeks. Call me an influencer (but not derogatorily). Finally, I obtained a dabbing basketball sticker. 

 

There was also one travel-related crash-out, but I think that's just standard. During said travel, I rode some trains (Caltrain and VTA light rail: ★★★★★) and went to a Percy Jackson location (a Percy Pilgrimage if you will—Alcatraz: ★★★★★). Other things happened on this trip (🦭), but those are the relevant details. I like trains (fact) and I like Percy Jackson (fact). 

 

Wait no, there's more relevant details: I also bought some books for children. This blog has a lot of book content, so I will include it. My cousins are quite young, so I bought some books that I thought might appeal to quite young humans. Both books were purchased at Bookasaurus in Sunnyvale, CA (I'm not an expert on children, but I liked the store, lots of books and toys). 

 

How to Catch a Star by Oliver Jeffers: I MIGHT have blanked and bought this book purely because the cover was half pink. I'm not really sure if the story will appeal to my little cousin, but I hope the pink unicorn wrapping paper was appreciated. I told her to give me a review after finishing, but I don't think she knows what a review is. 

 

Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andreae and Guy Parker-Rees: I got this for a little girl that loves animals (I knew this), and her favorite animal happened to be a giraffe (I did not know this), so I'm accidentally a winner. 

 

I have not read either of the above books yet, but I theoretically totally would. You'd just need to take my phone away and leave me in a doctor's office waiting room.